


Another Ghost Story (being rewritten) {on hiatus}

by FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396



Category: Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol, Blood, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Family, Friendship, Ghosts, Horror, Humor, I'm Done Tagging, Mentions of alcohol, Supernatural - Freeform, Swearing, That's it, Violence, lol, not for a long time though, not sure if I should change story rating, that's as m-rated as it's going to get, whoops!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21538105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396/pseuds/FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396
Summary: (The fanfic is in the process of being rewritten.)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter I: Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Summary says it all. This story is now in the process of being rewritten. When I'm finished with each chapter, I will upload them, here. This might take some time.... I will update as much as I can before I move to campus in the middle of next month.

It was a rainy day in Columbia, South Carolina. According to the weatherman, it was supposed to thunderstorm either later, or the next day.

Nineteen-year old Bobby Kriticos was sitting on a bench, just outside of a bustling retro diner. He was currently waiting for two people, one of which he hasn't seen since middle-school...and he missed her, dearly. They had tried their best to keep in contact...but it wasn't easy, since she was living in Seoul, South Korea for work. Meanwhile, Bobby had started college, so he hadn't had much time to contact his friends and family.

Bobby couldn't stop thinking about the nightmares he's been having, lately. One of them was always the same: childhood memories from when he had almost lost his father, sister, and babysitter in a house made of glass...and twelve ghosts were haunting them. And this nightmare always ended with an earlier memory of when he had lost his mother in a fire at his old house.

Speaking of his mother...the other nightmare he's been having was more of a premonition dream. This dream had shown him his mother, who was somehow back in the condition she had been in before she had been able to cross over, years ago. His mother, Jean, had warned him of a familiar glass house...the same glass house he and his family had _almost_ moved into, with Latin spells written on almost every wall, floor, and ceiling. It was as if the horrible place had been rebuilt! Then, the dream had shown him that his mother was locked up, in a glass cube in the basement of the house. His mother, although her voice was silent, warned him not to go anywhere near the house...even if it was just for her.

But how could he stay away? If his mother was really captured and trapped, again.... He had to go there! He remembered everything from when he was a kid, including every ghost that had been there. He even remembered grabbing an odd book after the house had been destroyed...a book that talked about every ghost that he and his family had encountered, and it talked about the Eye of Hell.... It was something that he did not want attempted at being opened, again. Especially if it concerned using his mother!

Bobby planned on doing whatever it took to free his mother, again, and the other spirits. And he was determined to prevent that machine from being used, again. He was skeptical about the premonition dream he's been having...but he didn't want to risk not doing anything before it was too late. 

However, if he was going to go through with this mission, he knew he couldn't do it, alone...and that's why he had contacted two of his closest friends. His childhood friend was the most understanding, and she practically jumped on-board the mission. His other friend was the complete opposite...but more on that in a bit.

Bobby looked up at the grey sky as it drizzled rain. The air was chilly...but not too chilly, since it was still summer. He looked ahead of him, though, the second he heard bickering voices. He smiled, softly, and stood up. He watched as his two closest friends approached the diner.

Khaleen...an eighteen-year old teenager with short hair, a thin and short figure, and sapphire-blue eyes...spotted him, and grinned, happily. "Bobby!!!" she exclaimed. She ran up to him, and surprised him by giving him a tight hug. 

"Hey, Khal...." Bobby said. "It's been way too long." He returned the hug, equally as tight. He saw Khaleen like a sister...she always listened to him, and would try to comfort him whenever he was feeling down. He had missed the days when the two would hang out after school, and on the weekends. Sometimes, they would get into trouble, and she had been such a danger-magnet. It was possible that she still was. The two released each other, after a minute of hugging.

Khaleen had grown up to be quite beautiful since the last time Bobby had seen her. Her hair was definitely different...he had remembered it being long, straight, and red when they were kids. She had full bangs, back then, too. Now, she had side-bangs, the left side being longer than the right. Her hair was still straight, was colored black, and also had dark-blue streaks in it. Her figure had become not only thin, but also curvy. Her breasts were small, as so were her hips. Her skin looked healthy and fair. And last but not least, she was definitely shorter than him. Even her hands and feet looked small! She looked to be about five-foot zero...while Bobby had grown up to be five-foot eleven. Her fashion style looked about the same as when they were kids: torn jeans, boyish shirts, and converse shoes. Today, she wore torn jeans that were rolled at the ankles, a grey shirt with lines and sleeves that stopped at her elbows, a cropped zip-up and sleeveless vest, and black-and-white Chuck Taylors. She also wore a black studded belt, and a silver necklace with a silver coin pendant. Her nails were painted black, and she looked like she was wearing lip-conditioner. 

There was one feature on her that Bobby knew about. She had scars on her back, from when she was a child. Her father used to beat her whenever he was in a bad mood or drunk...and he had used an actual whip. Those scars were now hidden from the world by her shirt. Khaleen never liked talking about her childhood. It wasn't all that great, even after she had met Bobby. 

"Bobby...before we get settled down and talk this whole mission over...." the teen girl said with an innocent smile, and jabbed a thumb over at the person behind her. "What's _he_ doing here?"

Bobby looked over her shoulder at his other friend, Jack Gallagher...a nineteen-year old boy who went to same college as Bobby did, which was how the two met. They even shared most of their classes, together. 

Jack was a handsome-looking young man. His skin was healthy and slightly fairer than Khaleen's, he had baby-blue eyes...which, Bobby knew half the girls at his college fawned over...and dark-brunette hair with his bangs spiked-up. He was the tallest of the three of them, right now...standing at six-feet tall. His figure was thin, but muscular, as well. Almost like a jock, but not quite. On this particular rainy day, Jack dressed casually: jeans that were slightly baggy, dark-brown ankle-boots that looked more like work shoes than anything, a light-grey shirt, and a dark-grey t-shirt that was button-up at the collar. He also wore a red beaded necklace. 

Jack and Khaleen were total opposites. While she was adventurous, understanding, and a believer of some things...Jack was lazy, arrogant, and didn't believe in things such as ghosts or anything supernatural. He didn't even believe that Bobby's dream was a premonition. And yet, he came to meet his college classmate at the diner, anyway. Khaleen's hobby was photography, and she worked in sales in Seoul. Jack's hobby was cooking, and he worked part-time in the campus cafeteria. 

Bobby had a feeling he knew why Khaleen seemed to greatly dislike Jack...but, he felt like he had to ask, anyway. "Ok...how do you two know each other?" he asked both of them.

Jack smirked at Khaleen instead of answering.

The teen girl rolled her eyes. "We were classmates in high-school." she told her childhood friend.

"I was a transfer student in Korea, at the time." Jack said, and stuck his hands into his pockets.

"And he made every day of my high-school life miserable!" Khaleen exclaimed, ignoring the fact that Jack had butted in. "Pulling my hair, dumping beverages on me during lunch hour, shoving me into my locker, kidnapping me and locking me in the equipment room, and basically used me as a punching bag!" 

"Amazing you never shed a tear." Jack sneered at her.

" _Why is he here?_ " she asked, sounding slightly pissed off.

"Relax, shrimp. You're not his only friend, ya know." the college boy said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, yeah! Name-calling! Something else he always did to me!" Khaleen exclaimed with a fake smile. 

_Oh boy...._ Bobby mentally sighed as he gave his childhood friend a warm smile. "Ok, ok, calm down." he told her. "You two are the only close friends I actually have, and you two are more willing to do this rescue mission than my father and sister are."

"So...they're really not coming?" Khaleen asked with a sad look. 

Bobby shook his head. "Kathy doesn't want to go through all of that, again, and Dad won't do it, either." he told her. 

"What about Maggie?" she asked.

"Maggie quit after that whole ordeal." he replied. "I haven't seen her since then." He watched her shoulders slump with sadness. "Like I said, you two are the only ones willing to do this with me."

"I'm only going with because I need a vacation from my roommate." Jack told him. "He can bring home all the girls he wants until I tell him I'm coming home." He rolled his eyes at the thought of his roommate. "But I don't believe in ghosts, Bobby. You know that."

"Skeptic." Khaleen muttered.

But Jack heard her. "Nerd." he retaliated with a smirk. 

"Real mature." she spat. 

"Come on, you guys." Bobby pleaded. "You two can fight all you want after we free my mom. That is, until I've had enough of you two clawing at each other."

"She's the one with claws." his college classmate told him. He rolled his eyes when Bobby gave him a look, and Khaleen growled at him.

Bobby shook his head. This trip was going to be a long one if his friends continued fighting.... "Let's go in and eat." he said with a sigh. "Khal, you can sit next to me, if you want."

"Gladly!" she said, and snootily turned away from Jack, who followed the two into the diner.

In a private corner of the diner, the small group ate burgers, fries, and shakes while discussing Bobby's mission. Well...actually, Bobby and Khaleen were discussing it. Jack only ate in silence and listened. 

"You really think someone's gone and captured all of those ghosts, again...and rebuilt that house?" Khaleen asked with a raised eyebrow. "And about your mom...I thought she had crossed over, years ago! At least, that's what you told me." She popped a small fry into her mouth, then.

"That's what I thought, too...I watched her cross over, myself." Bobby replied. "But then, I've been having that dream, lately."

"You mean, your so-called premonition nightmare." Jack said, skeptically. 

"Premonition dreams are a thing, and sometimes, they are helpful!" Khaleen told him with an irritated frown. Jack smiled and rolled his eyes in disbelief. 

"Anyway.... Dad and Kathy were there, so I know they saw it happen, as well." Bobby said. "Maybe Jack's right, and my dream is just a dream. But...I really don't want to take any chances. If someone has actually rebuilt that house and is trying to resurrect that whole nightmare...I want to see it for myself. But, I don't want to do it, alone.... That's why I asked you, both, to come with me." He looked at Khaleen. "You and I did a lot of crazy shit, together, when we were kids."

"You're absolutely certain your father and sister won't do this with you." the teenage girl said, almost as if it was a question.

"Dad doesn't believe me, anyway, and like I said...Kathy doesn't want to go through that, again." he replied. "She's fearing for my life enough as it is."

Khaleen let out a slightly uncertain sigh. She was usually the daredevil between the two of them. But this time, they were about to go up against a whole bunch of ghosts! She thought the whole thing over, and shrugged. "Ok! I'm in." she said. "Besides! What harm could a little mystery and adventure in a haunted house do?"

"Oh, please." Jack scoffed at her. "You really are a nerd."

"And you really are an idiot." she quipped.

Meanwhile, Bobby was giving her a smile...and a somewhat stern look.

"....You get what I mean." she told him. "So! When do we start?"

"Well...." Bobby said as Jack stole and munched on a fry from his plate. "Dad and Kathy don't have a clue that I did this...but years ago, just before leaving that horrible place after it had exploded...I found a book that talked about all the ghosts of the Black Zodiac. I told you that one of those ghosts was my mother.... I don't really know why I grabbed it.... I was surprised that it hadn't been destroyed when the house exploded. I should've just left it...but, I didn't. And now, I'm slightly glad that I didn't. Anyway, I have the book with me. It's in the van, right now. We can take a look at it when we're done, here." 

"Is the book locked closed?" Khaleen asked. "From what I've read in mystery stories, books like that or anything similar and fancy usually need some sort of key to open it." At this, Jack rolled his eyes.

Bobby shook his head. "Nope! No key needed." he told her. "So that's something we don't have to worry about.... The house is in British Columbia, our old home." 

"And we're all taking your van?" she asked, wanting to be sure she had all the details.

"Yep!" he responded with a nod.

"Guess that means I'm leaving my truck at campus." Jack sighed.

"I guess I can leave the rental car at the hotel...." Khaleen said, thoughtfully. "Or wait, maybe that's not a great idea...." She then gave Jack a disbelieving look. " _You_ have a truck?"

" _You_ have a rental car?" he asked her with a small glare.

"My job is in Seoul." she told him with a glare of her own. "I'm only staying in the States for a couple of weeks."

"So...vacation time." Bobby guessed. 

"Pretty much, yeah." she replied, looking over at him and her tone becoming kinder. "Things are a little stressful, over there, so I'm glad to be taking a break! Anyway...British Columbia's quite a drive, isn't it? We'll need to stop, somewhere, for snacks...."

Bobby nodded in agreement. "We'll probably have to spend the night at a couple of hotels, too." he said. "But let me take care of that."

"Cool! Then, I'll keep guard of your book...and Jack can buy all the snacks!" Khaleen gave her school bully a smirk.

"I'm not wasting my money on you, shrimp." the college boy told her, rather rudely. "Buy your own snacks."

Khaleen rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever." she huffed, and nodded her head, flipping her left side-bang out of her face. "Damn, all you care about is yourself!" She let out a surprised little squeak when he grabbed her shirt, and pulled her closer to him. 

He gave her a fake grin. "We haven't seen each other since school." he told her. "How would you know what I'm like, since then?"

Bobby, not wanting his friends to cause a scene, tried to calm them down. "Ok, alright, easy!" he told them with a nervous smile. "We'll all buy our own stuff on this trip...and we'll get our own rooms at the hotels, too. So...please, both of you, don't fight...."

"Eh, it's a waste of energy sluggin' him, anyway." Khaleen sighed. She gave Jack a harsh glare as he shoved her back into her spot.

Bobby let out a sigh of relief.

"What if this place is locked up?" the teen girl asked him. "Or if whoever rebuilt it is there? What do we do, then?"

"As far as I can tell, it's possible we'll have to wait until the person responsible either leaves, or goes to bed for the night." he told her. "Then, we find a way to sneak in, find some information, and then figure out how to set my mom free, again...and this time, we better be damn sure something like this never happens, ever. Make sure everything burns for good and whatnot. We should also make sure we get enough evidence for the police, and let them handle whoever's responsible."

"Not that I believe in any of this nonsense, whatsoever, but...." Jack sighed. "Say there is such things as ghosts, and whatever this person has that keeps these "ghosts" contained...what makes you think the police are going to buy any of it?"

Khaleen cringed. "As much as I hate to admit it...." she said. "Jerk-face has a point, Bobby. Ghosts? Anything evil-related? The police would think we were crazy, and they would do nothing about the person responsible!"

Bobby let out a disappointed sigh. "You're right.... Damn it!" he hissed in frustration. "I can't believe I didn't think of that...." 

"Whatever happens, we'll just have to deal with everything, ourselves." Khaleen told him. "And as for whoever decided to bring these spirits back...well, I guess we'll have to figure that out when we cross that bridge.... Are you sure that Cyrus isn't trying again?"

"Who's Cyrus?" Jack asked, looking confused.

"My great-uncle." Bobby told him, and then turned to Khaleen. "I saw that man die with my own two eyes, Khal. There's no way he's responsible. And he's not part of the Black Zodiac, either. No...I'm sure his soul is rotting in hell, right now. Let him stay there.... Tricking and using my father like that.... Cyrus was a total maniac!"

"From what you've told me, I'm surprised the spirits never went for you, Kathy, and your dad." the teenage girl said. "Instead, they went after Cyrus!"

Bobby shrugged. "I guess even angry spirits know from right and wrong." he said. "Besides, they all looked pretty pissed at Cyrus for what he did to them. Revenge is what they decided to get, I suppose. Good.... Ever since they killed him, nobody else has bothered my family." 

"I've never met the man, and I don't like speaking ill of the dead...." Khaleen said. "But, Cyrus sounded like he was one hell of an evil bastard!"

"He was." Bobby agreed with a short nod. "I'm honestly glad those spirits threw him into those blades. Although, I will admit, they all gave me the creeps. Except Mom.... Ok, The Torso wasn't so bad, either."

Jack simply looked back-and-forth between the two in boredom. He had an idea of what they were talking about, now, but he wasn't going to butt in with his skepticism, again. He couldn't wait to prove that they were crazy....

Meanwhile, Khaleen was giving Bobby a sympathetic look. Then, she exclaimed, "Well! Your mom won't be able to cross over, again, if we just continue sitting here!" She requested to a passing waiter to put her shake in a take-out cup. Then, to her best friend, she said with a reassuring smile. "Let's go rescue her...and the other spirits!"

"You two are seriously crazy." her school bully said with a scoff as he stretched.

She gave him a frown. "You'll see, skeptic!" she told him. "Then, maybe you'll realize just how much of a blind idiot you are."

"Guys...." Bobby said in a pleading tone. 

"Whatever." Khaleen scoffed and stuck her nose up, facing away from Jack. "I still don't get why _he_ has to come along...but I'll try to suck it up."

Jack rolled his eyes, but gave his friend a look that told him he would do the same.

"Promise me you guys won't fight on the way there." Bobby told them. "Please? For now, just...be civil?"

Jack and Khaleen sent each other harsh glares, but nodded.

Bobby sighed with relief. He couldn't help but smile, though, and shake his head. "Why do I get this feeling you're going to become somewhat attached to a few of the spirits?" he asked his best friend with a small chuckle as he pulled out his wallet to pay for the food.

"Me? Attached to ghosts?" Khaleen asked, sarcastically. "Puh-leeze, Bobby."

The small group of three then stood up from their seats. "You want me to take a picture of you with these so-called "spirits" when this whole thing's over with?" Jack teased her with a smirk.

"Ah, no." she replied with a frown towards him. "I think I'll try to keep a safe distance, thank you."

"Good choice!" Bobby exclaimed, nervously, as he clapped his hands onto her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. This was definitely going to be a long trip....

The very next day, the teen girl and the boys were on their way to British Columbia. Jack and Khaleen had made a bet for who got to sit shot-gun, and who got stuck in the back with all the luggage and things. The two had a quick race for the front spot...running around the block, once. Needless to say, Khaleen was pretty ecstatic when she won. Jack, on the other hand, pouted at his embarrassing loss...it wasn't his fault he had tripped.

On the road, the weather didn't seem like it wanted to let up...but fortunately, the roads seemed empty. Bobby was driving and keeping his eyes on the road, while Khaleen looked through the book he had been telling her about, the Arcanum. And Jack was lounging on the floor, enjoying the ride. 

"Whatever happened to Maggie?" the teen girl asked out of curiosity. "Is she still with you guys?"

Bobby shook his head. "Nah...." he replied. "She totally quit working for us right after the glass house exploded. Haven't really heard from her since then. Sad...she was an awesome nanny. She's the one who saved our lives, you know! If she hadn't fiddled with the machine that controlled the place, the house probably would've never blown up and our lives would've still been in danger. I guess after all the BS that went down, she had had enough. Can't say I really blame her, though. Apparently, fighting ghosts and for her life was not in the job description."

"That's too bad...." Khaleen said in disappointment. "A part of me was hoping I would get the chance to see her, again, after all these years. But, hopefully, she's living an awesome life, somewhere.... What about Kathy and your dad? Are you all still living together?" 

"Not really." he replied. "Well...I'm the only one who moved out after high-school, and got into college. I think Kathy's still living with Dad. As far as I know, they haven't moved out of the apartment we've been living in ever since Mom passed away. If we survive this endeavor, I can take you over there and we could visit them. If you want to, of course."

Khaleen carefully turned the pages of the book. "I've tried calling and emailing them about you as often as I could." she told him. "But it's not easy when you're living in a different country...trying to survive school, and looking for a job. Definitely not easy to do, by the way." 

Bobby smiled and shook his head. In this day and age, finding a job was so far from easy.


	2. Chapter II: Into the Inferno

A couple days later, the three teenagers were continuing their journey to their destination. The weather was still rainy...which, Bobby thought to be perfect for the possible nightmare they were about to get into. He was mostly quiet, today, as he drove. His head was filled with worrying thoughts, concerning his, Khaleen's, and Jack's safety.

Speaking of Khaleen, the teenage girl was sitting in the passenger seat, reading through the Arcanum book and looking focused. Today, she wore another pair of torn jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and the same Chuck Taylors she had worn the day she and the boys reunited. She even wore the same belt as that day. And just like that day, her jeans were rolled up at the ankles. Bobby has teased her about if she was going for the greaser look, these days, and he had earned a playful punch on his arm for it.

On the floor of the van, Jack dozed, peacefully...which Bobby felt relieved about, because if Jack was asleep, at least he wasn't fighting with Khaleen. On this rainy trip, Jack was wearing dark denim jeans, black shoes, a dark-grey long-sleeved shirt with a thick light-grey stripe that went across the middle, and his red-beaded necklace. 

Bobby knew how much of a skeptic his college friend was, but he had a feeling Jack's skepticism about ghosts would vanish once they encountered one...or two...maybe three.... 

"So, let me see if I can guess who the most dangerous ghosts are at this place." Khaleen said, suddenly, her voice startling Jack awake from his nap. 

"Fire away!" Bobby told her with a chuckle at Jack's reaction...Jack, himself, gave his high-school classmate a small glare for waking him up.

"The Angry Princess, Dana Newman...." the teen girl began to list off. 

Bobby tilted his head, wondering if his best friend was ranking the dangerous spirits from least to most. Jack, since he couldn't sleep with Khaleen's voice going off, grabbed his overnight bag and used it to prop himself up. 

"The Torn Prince, Royce Clayton." Khaleen said, flipping through the pages of the book.

"I don't think I ever met those two, but I agree that they are a couple of the most dangerous ghosts...." Bobby told her, letting a shudder as he remembered what Maggie had told him about the spirits, before she had officially quit her job as a nanny. 

"The Hammer, George Markley...." Khaleen continued, then frowned, a bit. "What did Maggie tell you about this guy?"

"Only that he was dangerous, and that he had tried to kill Dennis Rafkin." Bobby replied. "And, that he was a scary-looking dude. I'm guessing he succeeded in killing Dennis, that night, because I never saw that psychic, again."

"He was psychic?" Khaleen asked with interest, and ignored the snort Jack let out.

"According to Dad, Kathy, and Maggie, he was." Bobby told her, also ignoring his college classmate. "And according to them, he didn't seem like he was a fan of his abilities. Said he swore, a lot...."

"Weird...." Khaleen said, and looked back at the book. "Uh...The Jackal, Ryan Kuhn." 

"Yeah...." Bobby said, nervously. "Dad told me about him.... Uh, if we ever see him, let's just stay far away from him. Especially you, Khal. I mean it...."

Khaleen gave him an odd look. "....Alright, I will." she said. She flipped the pages to list off the last most dangerous ghost. "Last but not least...or, maybe least...The Juggernaut, Horace 'Breaker' Mahoney." 

Bobby gave her a very nervous side-eyed look before shifting his eyes back onto the road.

It didn't take long for her to figure out why he was so nervous. "Don't tell me. He's another one we need to stay far away from." she said. "Is he really that dangerous?"

"Yes." Bobby replied, rather quickly.

Khaleen blinked. "Ok, then...." she muttered. Part of her wanted to know, exactly, what The Juggernaut did that made him so terrifying...and another part of her didn't want to know. And that part of her wanted to just listen to her best friend, and stay as far away from the ghost as possible. 

"Oh, come on!" Jack laughed. "You two really and truly believe any of that?"

"I was there when I was a kid, Jack!" Bobby told him in a very serious tone. "I'm not kidding around! Some of these ghosts are not to be screwed around with!"

"I've yet to meet a ghost, myself...." Khaleen said. "But, if there's one thing I've learned from watching horror movies and books with ghosts in it, it's that you don't anger them, and you definitely _do not_ tease them! Because that's how you get them to murder you."

"Nerd." Jack scoffed with a smirk.

Khaleen sent him a harsh glare. "Hey, Bobby! I have a theory about our skeptic little friend, here!" she exclaimed, sarcastically, and feigning excitement.

" _Little_?!" Jack asked with an irritated frown. "I'm not the one who's little, pipsqueak!"

Khaleen ignored his anger. "I bet, he actually does believe in spirits." she said. "I bet, he actually met one, once, and he or she almost killed him! He's been scarred for life, since then, the poor baby!"

"If Bobby wasn't driving, right now, I'd strangle you!" Jack exclaimed, glaring daggers at her. "Ghosts! Don't! Exist, Khal! Once someone dies, that's it, end of the road! That someone's soul goes to either heaven or hell. Got it?!"

"Don't be such a sensitive prick, Jack." Khaleen snapped, flipping her side-bang out of her face. "I was just kidding. And by the way, you're only wrong about ghosts not existing. They _do_ exist!"

"Oh yeah? Have you ever seen one?" her high-school bully challenged. "Do you have and use any of that ridiculous equipment those so-called ghost hunters use on tv? _Where's the proof, Khal?_ "

Meanwhile, Bobby focused on the road with a small stressed smile on his face as he listened to his friends bicker like children. He then let out a tired sigh. _These two will be lucky to live if any of the ghosts catch them fighting like this...._ he thought.

Part of him wished that his friends would get along, if only for a few minutes...at the very least.

As the rainy and cloudy sky slowly began to get darker, Bobby began to recognize the road they were now on. _This is it...._ he thought, nervously. _We're almost there._

Just as he thought this, Khaleen tiredly asked, "Bobby, are you sure you know where you're going? Just where is this place?" Lounging on the floor of the van, Jack was in his own world as he flicked through his phone, ignoring his friend and ex-schoolmate. 

"Don't worry, guys, we're almost there." Bobby tried to reassure them, knowing how exhausted they probably were. "Not long, now...."

"Maybe we should check the map." his best friend suggested, and she began looking around for a map.

But Bobby shook his head. "Trust me, Khal. I know where I'm going." he told her. "I remember this road from years ago. That whole nightmare, back then, was pretty much stamped into my mind. We don't need a map. I highly doubt this place is on one, anyway."

"What about a GPS?" she asked.

"Khal." he told her, and gave her a pleading glance. "Please, just trust me."

"Shut up and stop worrying, nerd." Jack told her, his eyes glued to his phone.

"You shut up, freak!" she snapped at him.

Now, Bobby's had it. Gripping the steering wheel, he told them, "The next person who opens their mouth to start another fight, I'm gonna start sluggin'! Ya hear?" His tone sounded far from happy.

Surprised at their friend's greatly irritated outburst, the two teenagers stopped talking...and neither of them opened their mouths, again, for the rest of the ride.

Just as the sky darkened, signaling sunset, the van pulled up and parked behind various trees and large bushes. There was a dirt driveway, but Bobby didn't want to risk getting caught. Through the trees, he could see the glass house from this spot. All his childhood fear of this place came back to him, and he became very reluctant to go any further with his plan. 

He couldn't believe that someone had actually gone and rebuilt the glass house...and if they did this, it wouldn't surprise him, at all, if he was also right about his mother and the other spirits being recaptured.

"Why are we stopping?" Jack asked, curiously, as he sat up. "Are we there, yet?"

Khaleen peered through the trees at the house. Even from here, she could see how very see-through the place was. And it looked like it was a two-story building. In the driveway, up close in front of the house, sat a dark car that was on. "I think we are...." she replied to Jack. She then looked over at Bobby, and saw how nervous he was. "Bobby? ....Bobby, are you ok?" 

Bobby didn't respond. Instead, he continued to stare at the house as multiple flashbacks went through his head. 

"Hey, man, snap out of it!" Jack told him, giving him a hard tap on his shoulder. 

At the tap, Bobby shook his head. "Sorry, guys...." he told them. "Just reliving bad memories of this place."

Khaleen and Bobby gave each other a concerned look, and for once, they didn't argue. 

"Well...hate to break this to you, buddy...." the teen girl said. "But, we've already come all this way."

"I don't believe in ghosts, but even I agree that it's kinda too late to turn back, now." Jack added. "We might as well go through with it and get this done."

Khaleen tried to make light of the situation to make her best friend feel better. "I mean...if you decide to just stay in this van for the rest of our days, I guess I'll never be able to meet a ghost...." she sighed, dramatically, and looked out the passenger-side window. 

Jack frowned and slowly turned his head to give her an odd look. He wasn't sure if she knew that wasn't the way to cheer someone up...or if she had a good sense of humor that wasn't creepy.

However, her drama did make Bobby smile, and he nodded, knowing that both of his friends were right. "Ok, ok...let's go. But, we gotta be careful." he warned them. "Whoever rebuilt this damn place might be in there." 

Jack and Khaleen nodded...although, Jack was still very skeptical about the whole thing. But at this point, he'd rather stick with them and make sure they didn't get hurt while doing whatever it was Bobby planned on having them all do.

"Oh...you'll need these...." Bobby told them, and pulled out two pairs of clear-colored glasses. "You can't see the ghosts without them, so these will help you."

Jack reluctantly grabbed a pair, and decided to just play along. He slipped the glasses on...he could see everything just as normally as he could without them. He didn't see what was so special about them, otherwise. Khaleen, on the other hand, took her pair with great interest. She had never heard of ghosts not being seen with glasses...the more you know, she supposed. Not seeing any reason to wear them, at the moment, she hooked them onto the pocket of her shirt.

"Are we taking the Arcanum?" she asked, curiously. 

Bobby gave it some thought. "....I don't think we'll really need it." he replied. "But, I guess we can bring it along, just in case. Here, give it to me...I've got the bag big enough for it to fit in."

Jack couldn't help but let out a snicker at those last seven words. He had a perverted smirk on his face when Khaleen gave him a questioning look. Seeing that, she gave him a punch to his upper-arm, making him flinch and glare at her.

"Pervert!" she snapped at him.

"I'm a guy! Can you blame me?" he said in defense. 

"Worst excuse I've ever heard." she told him. 

"Hey!" Bobby told them. "Less fighting, more sneaking!" 

Khaleen winced. "Sorry...." she muttered as Jack rolled his eyes at her. 

"I swear, you two were like Rizzo and Kenickie, just now." Bobby sighed as he opened his door.

"Who and who?" Jack asked as he climbed out of the van after Khaleen.

"Characters from 'Grease', dingus." the teen girl sighed. She then gave him a sarcastic smirk. "Kenickie was a pervert, just like you." She then walked around the front of the van to follow Bobby.

Jack glared daggers at her back and gave her a warning growl.

Inside the glass house, a spirit dressed in a suit wandered about in boredom on the second floor. He looked out the glass exterior, and stopped walking. He frowned when he spotted a small group of teenagers making their way towards the house. Squinting through the darkness for a better look, he slowly began to recognize the girl and the boy with dark hair that was brushed over to the side of his forehead. 

"Oh...no...." he whispered. "What the hell are they doing here?!" Feeling panicked, he vanished from the spot to all the way down in the basement, where his fellow spirits were currently being held captive in cubes.

In one cube wandered a half-burnt woman, wearing a hospital gown and an IV attached to her. In cubes next to and across from her, the other spirits were bored out of their minds from being trapped, again. 

"Jean!" a panicked voice exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the basement and catching the attention of the other ghosts. "Jean!!!"

"What is it, Dennis?" the half-burnt spirit asked with a tired sigh, and jumped when her friend suddenly appeared in front of her entrapment. The man looked very nervous, and like he was about to explode in jibberish the second he would start talking. "Dennis, what on Earth is the matter?"

Dennis tried to calm down from the panic. "Your son...." he gasped. "Your son is here...and so is Khaleen!" 

Jean's face went from confused to extreme worry. "....What?" she whispered.

"It's true! I saw them, outside, just now!" Dennis exclaimed. Around him, a few of the ghosts stared in amusement at his state.

Jean became horrified. "Oh, no...." she whispered, fearful for her son and his childhood friend. 

"But they're not alone...some other kid is with them." Dennis continued. "I don't recognize him, at all. He looks to be about your son's age."

"Is he handsome?" Isabella, a spirit in a cube next to Jean's, asked. 

Both Jean and Dennis gave her a very questioning look, and one of the other spirits let out a snort.

"I don't know, it's dark, out there." Dennis replied. "Anyway...."

Jean face-palmed, trying to think. 

"I can only imagine they came all this way for a reason." Dennis mused, his mind running a mile a minute. "If any of the dangerous ghosts get out, they're screwed...."

"Dennis." Jean said, snapping the man out of his train of thought. "Do me a favor, please...." She was giving him a pleading look, so whatever she was about to request had to be really important. "I don't know why the children are here.... But, until I can get out of this prison, I need you to watch over them...make sure no harm comes to them."

"What?" he asked, bewildered. "You want me to babysit a bunch of teenagers?! Who am I, Sebastian?!"

"Not babysit, exactly, but...." she protested, then lowered her voice so that the other spirits wouldn't hear. "If the most dangerous spirits get out, there's no telling what they'll do to my son, Khaleen, and that other boy. I don't want them to wind up dead! As a mother, I am begging you, Dennis! Please!"

Dennis hung his head in defeat. When she put it that way.... "Fine." he sighed. "I'll do my best to keep them away from death...but, I can't guarantee they won't have any injuries if they decide to make this place their vacation home. There's just no way they'll get out of here, unscathed."

Jean sighed with relief. "Thank you, Dennis." she said. She felt better, knowing that someone she trusted was going to keep an eye on her son and the other teenagers.

"Yeah...sure...." he muttered, then turned to go back upstairs. "I'm babysitting a bunch of teenagers...great." Jean smiled, and shook her head. She had a feeling keeping three teenagers from death was going to be quite a challenge for her friend. Now, she could only pray that if any of the spirits got out, they wouldn't fatally harm them....

"Quit smirking, jock." Dennis' voice said, unhappily. Jean rolled her eyes when a loud thud sounded. "OI!!!" Dennis shouted. "Not necessary!!!"

Outside, meanwhile, the three teenagers were sitting in a tree, closest to the house. Bobby was looking around through the house to see if there was anybody around. He knew that, like the last time he was here, all the ghosts were locked up down in the basement.

On separate branches sat Khaleen and Jack. Jack was fiddling with his pair of glasses while looking totally bored. Khaleen, on the other hand, was helping her best friend out in search for any living humans. 

Inside the house looked as Bobby had remembered it. The only difference was that there was new furniture, and some new objects that looked expensive as hell. A part of him was disappointed that he didn't see any samurai swords like there had been, last time. Now that he was older, he could definitely use one for defense....

Since he was bored out of his mind, Jack put away his pair of glasses, and decided that now was the perfect time to mess around with Khaleen. Casually, and pretending he wasn't doing anything wrong, he reached out and began to play with her hair...something he had done to her in high-school. He was a bit surprised at how soft her hair felt.... 

Khaleen's focus on the house was broken when she felt something in her hair. Feeling suspicious, she quickly smacked whatever it was away without looking over her shoulder. However, Jack's fingers threaded her hair, again, and this time, she pulled away from his reach.

Jack was quietly enjoying this, and wasn't ready to quit, yet. So, he inched forward, and played with her hair, again...this time, he gave it a light tug.

"Would you stop it?!" Khaleen snapped at him in an irritated whisper, making him flinch when she spun around to look at him. But then, the second she turned around, she lost her balance! She let out a surprised yelp as she fell out of the tree, landing on her back! A few leaves fell from the branch that she had been sitting on.

"Khal!" Bobby exclaimed in a whisper, horrified at her sudden fall. "Khal, are you ok?!" Meanwhile, Jack was quietly snickering and having the time of his life.

Khaleen groaned...her body ached, and so did her head. She was thankful that she didn't fall down so far that anything would be broken.... "I'm fine." she replied to Bobby. "Just remind me to strangle Jack the second you guys come down." She opened her eyes, and glared at a still-snickering bully of hers. "I could've broken my neck, you know!"

"But you didn't." he told her with a giant smirk. "Good times, am I right?" 

"No!" she spat, angrily. Then, with a deep sigh, she shifted onto her stomach, and gave herself a minute to fully recover. "Stupid idiot jerk!" Then, she looked up...and froze, seeing something exiting the house. "Bobby! Jack! Git!" She quietly scrambled over to the corner of the house, peering out at a figure who was walking towards the car. She couldn't see much, except that the person was wearing a long overcoat and a fedora. She couldn't even tell if the person was a man or a woman....

She felt a gentle hand squeeze her shoulder, and she glanced to see that Bobby had snuck up, watching the figure with her. "Oof!" she grunted when she felt a weight on her back and her head being pushed down. She knew that it was only Jack, trying to get his view of the person, as well. Although, he didn't have to crawl on top of her.

The three watched as the front door of the house closed shut, and they heard a click, signaling that it was now locked. Then, they watched as the figure got into the car, and backed out of the driveway. The person didn't seem to notice them, thankfully. They watched as the person drove away from the property.

Bobby exhaled. "Ok, I think it's safe to come out of hiding." he said. His friends nodded in agreement, and the three of them approached the door. Bobby then frowned. "Shit!" he hissed when he realized that the house was actually locked up. "If there's one thing I don't have on me, it's that I don't have the key to this place!"

"So, what do we do, now?" his best friend asked. "Is there a back-door or something?"

Bobby shook his head. "Not that I can remember." he replied. "And the glass is unbreakable, so that idea's out."

"Unbreakable?" Khaleen asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you said every wall broke when the house exploded, a decade ago."

"That's the only way it can break." Bobby sighed. "But nothing else will work. Dad tried it when he and the others were looking for me." 

"Ugh! There _has_ to be another way in!" Khaleen exclaimed in frustration. That was when she noticed Jack messing around with the lock. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" the college boy grunted as he fiddled with whatever he was using. "I'm trying to get us into this place."

"And how are you doing that?" she asked, skeptically. "Using your bank card?" 

"Ha! Very funny." he said. "But no." Bobby and Khaleen watched as he worked to unlock the house. Jack pulled a small pocket-knife out, along with what looked like some sort rubber that was now shaped like a key.

"There's no way something like that will unlock a mechanical house like this." Khaleen couldn't help but laugh, skeptically, and crossed her arms.

"Shut up and be patient." he told her, before slipping the key-shaped rubber back into the slot. He grinned when a click was heard, and the house came to life. Every light turned on, and the doors opened up. Jack took a step back, proud of his work.

"Ok, that was cool!" Bobby exclaimed, amazed that his friend had been able to unlock the house. "I hate this house! But that was cool."

Khaleen stared up at Jack in disbelief. 

He gave her a cocky smirk. "Oh ye of little faith, princess." he told her. 

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up." she replied, and began to follow Bobby into the house. 

Jack sneered after her, then began to follow them both into what Bobby called it the House of Horrors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wasn't going to give Khaleen any super-special abilities...but, after considering it for a while, I think I am gonna do it. Don't worry, she's not going to be super powerful. I'm just going to give her a bit of power. Ok! Enjoy the story! Leave a kudos or nice comment! If you feel like it.


	3. Chapter III: Welcome Committee

The three teenagers moved further away from the only entrance possible in the entire house, taking in their glass surroundings with curiosity...in Bobby's case, fear and worry.

"Who would want to live in an open place like this?" Jack asked with a small frown. He was already not a fan of all the glass.

"Not I, that's for sure." Khaleen muttered. She looked over at Bobby, who hadn't spoken a word since before Jack unlocked the doors. "Hey, Bobby? You ok?"

Bobby took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm and cool, and nodded. "I'm fine." he replied. "I'm just not looking forward to being here for very long." He turned to face his friends. "First thing's first, we find a base room. We don't know how long we're going to be here or how long this whole rescue mission is going to take. I suggest we find the library or the office, whichever comes first. We should be able to find some information in there."

"Information about what, exactly?" Jack asked, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Anything." Bobby replied. "Anything that can help us. Info about who's responsible, maybe even info on the house that isn't in the Arcanum. Just whatever's useful."

"Ok, but...what if that person, whom we saw, comes back and they're dangerous?" Khaleen asked. "We don't have any weapons!" 

Bobby looked around. "Last time I was here, this place had a whole bunch of swords and guns." he said. "But...looks like this person isn't too keen on defense. There's nothing in this house but furniture...and, of course, the spirits." 

"Welp!" Khaleen shrugged. "Guess I can always grab a knife from the kitchen!" Jack looked at her as if she was crazy.

Bobby smiled, a bit, and nodded. Leave it to his best friend to go all defense-mode with knives. 

"I hope you know where this library or office might be." Jack told his college friend. "This place looks like a maze with all the glass...."

"That's because it kinda is a maze. Especially downstairs...." Bobby said. "Which is why I also suggest we stick together. It's very easy to get lost in here, and that's the last thing I need: losing you two."

"Hey!" a voice exclaimed, harshly.

Startled, the three teenagers looked around until they spotted an important-looking man in a suit and an overcoat. He had dirty-blonde hair, pale skin, and green eyes. And right now, he was not looking very happy.

"Who the hell are you three, and how did you get in here?" he asked, rudely, with a deep frown.

"We could ask you the same thing!" Khaleen told him with her own frown, and was about to tell him off for his rudeness when Bobby quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

"We're lost." he lied to the man, causing both Khaleen and Jack to look at him, oddly. "The house was wide-open, and we were looking for help. We apologize for intruding!" He gave the man a fake smile. "Don't suppose you have a map, anywhere, do you?"

The man in the suit stared at them in confusion. He even looked Khaleen up and down.... Not really knowing what to do, he reluctantly nodded. "Yeah.... I have one in my car." he told them. "I'll just...go get it. Neither of you move from that spot until I get back! You kids shouldn't be out here, in the middle of nowhere, alone." He gave them one last look before turning around and disappearing around some corners.

Bobby uncovered his best friend's mouth, and said, "Let's go." He then began continuing in the direction they were all going. 

"But...that guy said-" Jack began to say, but Khaleen shook her head at him to stop talking. To her, it was clear that Bobby did not trust the man, at all. 

The teen girl didn't trust him, either. She saw the way he had looked at her, and she felt disgusted. The man looked old enough to be her father...and that was not an image she appreciated. In fact, just thinking about her father brought back awful memories of the past....

As the small group walked on, Bobby felt the need to remind his friends to stick together...since the suit had pretty much interrupted them. "Now, as I was saying, before...we need to stick together, guys." he said. "This place is anything but safe." 

He turned around to face them...but they weren't there. He pursed his lips, already getting the sinking feeling that their night in this house was just beginning. 

"You've gotta be shitting me." he said to no one in particular.

In another part of the house, Jack was walking along until he realized that he was alone. He stopped walking, and looked around for his friend and ex-classmate. "....Guys?" he called out. The responding silence did not reassure him. "Hello? Guys!" But there was no answer. "Bobby? Khal?" Nothing....

He cautiously looked around. While he didn't believe in ghosts, he did have a very uneasy feeling about the house, and he was not a fan of it. "....Well, fuck." he said to himself.

Meanwhile, Khaleen was walking along the eerily-quiet hallways as she searched for the boys, having noticed that they weren't with her, anymore. As someone who has read many mystery and ghost stories in her life, being on her own in a creepy glass house wasn't a smart thing to happen...and she didn't want to be alone.

"Jack? Bobby?" she called out, hoping at least one of the boys would respond. But all she got as an answer was silence. "Anybody home?" Nothing. "Alright, then." She spoke to herself, as it was something that usually kept her calm in unpleasant situations. "No boys, and I'm alone in one part of this scary house. I'm sure nothing too bad will happen until we find each other, again." But, she wasn't so sure about that. It didn't help that she got the feeling that she was being watched.... She could only hope that it wasn't the suit.

She let out a startled gasp as new sounds suddenly started in the house, as if a machine had been turned on and it was revving up! Remembering something she had seen in the Arcanum, she began jogging through the house.

It took a few minutes...or so it felt...but she finally entered what she believed to be the center of the house, and looked down at the floor. She approached a mechanism that was split into twelve circles, all of which were spinning! Crouching down, she noticed that the mechanism had familiar-looking symbols on them. After studying them, she realized that these were the symbols of the Black Zodiac, the twelve ghosts that were in Bobby's book! She tried to remember who's symbol was currently spinning...but her mind was drawing a blank. Why couldn't she remember?! 

She slightly jumped when the smallest circle stopped spinning, and a click was heard, somewhere. Questions were running through the teen girl's mind, at that moment. Why was this mechanism spinning? Where were her friends? And, if she remembered, correctly, a ghost had probably just been let out...and if so, who was it? 

"....Hello?" she asked, nervously. "Anybody home?" 

She looked around, again, but didn't see anything or hear anything out of the ordinary. Until...she looked ahead of her, and her mouth fell open in shock. 

Standing at one entrance of the room was a tall and muscular dark-skinned man, with a blacksmith's hammer for a left hand, chains on his body, and nails driven into him. He was bleeding from some of those nails, and he didn't look happy. He was staring at her, calmly, but she could see a ferociousness in his eyes that told her to stay away!

Cautiously and slowly, she stood up in her spot at the mechanism. She almost didn't remember which ghost this was. He was so obvious that she just about called herself an idiot for almost not recognizing him.... The Hammer!

She gulped, nervously. "H-Hey, George...." she said in a small voice. "George Markley...right?"

At the mention of his name, the spirit glared, and snarled at her...she noticed that he was missing some teeth. That, and his weapon, was looking less and less friendly. He began stepping towards her, causing her to back up in fear. Her action did not make him happy!

Despite the horrifying situation she was in, now, Khaleen decided to try and make herself feel less scared by striking up a conversation. "J-Judging by your reaction, I take it I'm right about who you are." she told him as she continued to back up. "So uhhh, y-y-you're the first one out? That's cool! At least you're free!" 

The Hammer made no response. His intent to bash her skull in was growing stronger, the more she spoke.

"L-L-Let me guess, the other spirits are still in the basement?" she stammered. She had a dreadful feeling she knew what he was planning on doing to her. Dying was not on her bucket-list.... She laughed, nervously. "Y-You know, uhm...I used to have a hammer s-similar to yours! Yeah, uh, I used to use it on old toys and such. I-I'm no mechanic or engineer, but I uhm...I do like to try and fix things! When they need fixing...." She let out a startled yip when her back suddenly hit the wall. She gave the spirit a nervous and please-don't-murder-me smile. This conversation was going far from well, in her honest opinion.

"Hey, uh, I read about what happened to you and your f-family...." she told him, feeling death draw closer by the second. "I'm really sorry about that. You didn't deserve that...nobody deserves that! I mean, if somebody did that to my family, I'd go on a rampage!" 

The Hammer gave her a harsh glare as he raised his weapon to hit her! _Ok, so bringing up his past was NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!_ she mentally shouted...but she felt too terrified to move! The spirit let out a war-cry as he was about pummel her...but then, she was suddenly yanked out of the way, and the weapon hit the wall, instead, creating sparks!

"Come on! Move it!" an unfamiliar voice yelled. Khaleen didn't know who had grabbed her shirt and pulled her out of harm's way, but she wasted no time in obeying, and she made a run for safety, not bothering to look over her shoulder. 

Khaleen followed a man in a black-and-red and dirtied suit as she dashed down the halls, making sharp turns as she rounded every corner. Who was this guy, how did he get here, and where was he leading her?

She got the answer to one of those questions when she followed the man up a flight of stairs. Out of breath and needing to catch it, she slowed down to a stop, and rested her hands on her knees. "Fuck!" she gasped, feeling her heart pounding like crazy! "What...the fuck!" She knew that The Hammer was dangerous, but she didn't think he was going to be that deadly!

Beside her, a door to a bedroom eerily opened, and she gave it a cautious side-eyed look. The next thing she knew, she was being picked up by her waist...and tossed into the room! She landed on the floor, and slid a little ways, stopping just before she hit the bed-frame. 

The door closed shut, and the man in the dirtied suit appeared out of thin air, startling the already-frightened girl. Oddly enough, this man was just as out of breath as she was.... He had pale skin, very short dark hair, and light-blue eyes. He was skinny and of average height. Blood trickled from a head injury, and down the side of his neck. His face was also bloodied and bruised, and he wore a ring around his right pointer finger.

"What were you thinking?!" he exclaimed. "Striking up a conversation instead of running.... Do you not know where you are, right now?! You would've died, out there, if I hadn't come and saved your neck!"

Despite the fading shock and adrenaline that she was feeling, Khaleen raised an eyebrow at him and his rudeness. Her sassy and sarcastic side was coming out, rather quickly, the more the man yelled at her. "Well, excuse me!" she told him. "Last time I checked, a frightened person's first instinct when encountering a deadly ghost is usually to not run away! There's thing called 'fear', ya know. Sorry for being so dumb and an idiot! Thank you, so much, for saving me, by the way, Sir!"

The man was not ready for such a sassy response.... He studied her, and felt relieved that she didn't seem to be injured...yet.

"Now...." Khaleen said as she stood up. Her legs felt wobbly from all the running, but at least she was able to stand up without collapsing. "Introduce yourself, before I decide to throw you down the hall the same way you threw me into this bedroom."

_Geez!_ the man thought, taken aback by her weird attitude. _Jean didn't say anything about this kid being one hell of a sassy brat...._

However, now that he had gotten her to safety, he might as well introduce himself. "The name's Dennis. Dennis Rafkin." he told her. "I, uh...I used to work for Cyrus, a long time ago."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "You worked for Cyrus." she said, almost as if it was a question. "The same man who wanted nothing more than money. The same man who pretty much used my best friend's father. And, the same man who thought it was a brilliant idea to kidnap twelve ghosts for some stupid machine? _The_ Cyrus Kriticos?!"

Dennis cringed. "I know.... I've been regretting ever working for him ever since we caught the twelfth ghost." he told her. He was slightly surprised at how incredibly angry the girl seemed to be getting.

"You had a choice, you know!" she told him with an angry frown. "You could've just walked away, no matter how much that bastard was probably offering to pay you! You could've left them all alone, and _maybe_ , this whole business wouldn't have ever started, in the first place! No wonder they're all probably pissed off!"

"I know, I know! I learned my lesson, alright?" he told her. "Hell, I even offered myself up as a sacrifice to save Arthur's and his family's necks! It was the least I could do for all the mess I caused with that man! And before you say anything about it, I'm just as pissed off that this whole nightmare has started, again, as you and Bobby are!"

Khaleen pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking. She didn't exactly know why she had gotten so angry about the spirits being captured...she hadn't even realized she had been holding in that anger until now. But now was not the time to argue about the past. 

"So, does this mean you have no idea who's behind all this, this time?" she asked him.

"If I did, I would've told you, by now." he replied. "It can't be Cyrus...he's dead. For good. I watched him die, that night, by those ghosts." 

_Bobby said the same thing...._ Khaleen thought. _So, Cyrus is definitely not involved, this time._

"My turn to ask questions." Dennis told her. "Like this one: what are you and your friends doing here?" 

Khaleen gave him a suspicious look. She wasn't sure if this man could be trusted, especially with Bobby's plans. However, he didn't seem like the evil or greedy type. "....We're here because we had a feeling Bobby's mom was in trouble, again. So, we've come to save her...and the others." she carefully and hesitantly explained, purposely leaving out the fact that Bobby had somewhat of a premonition dream about it. She didn't think it would make sense to this man.

Dennis studied her to see if she was lying...but all he saw in her eyes was the truth. But, he could also see that there was something she wasn't telling him. For now, it was best not to pry about it. 

"My turn!" she exclaimed, half-sarcastically.

"Wait, what? No way, it's still mine!" Dennis exclaimed.

But she waved that off. "Are you psychic?" she asked him, her facial expression and tone of voice all serious.

The man rolled his eyes, but nodded. "I was." he replied. "But obviously, since I'm dead, not anymore."

"So...you're the same psychic Arthur was telling Bobby about...." Khaleen said, quietly, looking deep in thought. Dennis had to be that psychic...she was pretty sure that Bobby had said the psychic's name was Dennis Rafkin. "Huh...go figure."

"Uhm...I'm still here, and I can still hear you." the man told her, and the teen girl snapped out of her thoughts.

"Well!" she exclaimed. "As interesting as this meeting has been...I need to find my friends before The Hammer gets to them. If you will excuse me...." She walked forward to exit the bedroom...but Dennis immediately blocked her path. 

"My turn! Who's your other friend?" he asked her. He wasn't about to let her go out and wander the house on her own...especially, since she had no defense of any sort, whatsoever, on her. 

Khaleen rolled her eyes, not wanting to waste any more time by chatting. "His name's Jack, and he's a giant skeptic." she told him. "He doesn't believe in anything supernatural. Now, if you will please excuse me...." She tried walking out, again, by going past the man...but let her hands fall to her hips in annoyance when he stepped in her way, again.

"If he's such a skeptic, then why is here with you and Bobby?" he asked.

"Because, as much of a jerk and a skeptic as he is," she replied with a sigh. "He's still a good friend to Bobby. Now, _please!_ " 

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, and refused to let her leave by continuing to block her path.

"To find Bobby and Jack." she replied with a sarcastic...and greatly irritated...smile.

"Mm, I don't think so!" he told her.

She put her hands on her hips, and glared. "Well, why not?" she asked.

"Because there's a high chance you'll get yourself killed, out there, by any dangerous ghost who gets released." he replied. Khaleen opened her mouth and frowned, not liking where this was going, at all. "And since I promised Jean I'd make sure you meddling kids steer clear of death, you're going to stay here, in this room, while I go find your friends and bring them back here." He smirked at the unhappy look on her face.

"I am not a child, Dennis!" she told him, crossing her arms. "And neither are Jack and Bobby. Thank you for offering to be our guardian, but we can take care of ourselves."

"Really?" he asked, sarcastically, with a roll of his eyes. "That worked out, so well, out there...against The Hammer. Standing there and chattering like a chimp. Yeah, that's a real good way to avoid death." Khaleen glared at him. "Just stay here until I get back with your friends, got it, Khal?"

"I don't recall ever giving you my name." she told him, snootily, flipping her side-bang out of her face.

"Jean told me all about you." he said, and exited the room. "Make yourself comfortable! Might as well catch some sleep while you can!" And with that, he shut the door behind him.

"Ergh!" Khaleen exclaimed, quite unhappily. Then, she turned around, and sat on the edge of the bed with her arms still crossed. 

She could not believe this was happening!

Downstairs, on the first floor of the house, Dennis searched around for any sign of Bobby and Jack. He hoped that the Hammer hadn't gotten to them....

In another part of the house, Jack and Bobby were still separated from each other...and they were still searching high and low for each other, and Khaleen.

Jack wasn't a fan of Khaleen's guts, but he also wasn't keen on the idea of losing her, somehow. As much as he hated to admit it, he would probably feel much calmer and relaxed if he was with her. She knew about stuff like haunted houses probably as much as Bobby did, while Jack knew nothing...he still didn't believe in anything supernatural, anyway. He wandered down the halls and around corners. Bobby was right when he had said that this house was like a maze....

"Fuckin' hell...." he swore under his breath in annoyance. He was so sick and tired of all the glass! "Khal, where the hell did you and Bobby go?" At this point, he wanted to go home and sleep. Or, at the very least, sleep. But, he didn't want to do that until after he had found the others, first.

In the kitchen, Bobby was sitting at the kitchen island, munching on a fresh apple while being deep in thought. Not even a full hour in this house, and already, he had lost his friends to the maze of glass. He had warned them to stick together...but then again, that man in the suit had interrupted them, so Bobby wouldn't be surprised if his childhood friend and college classmate had forgotten about what he had said.

He had to think.... First thing's first, he definitely needed to regroup with his friends, again. It was now a top priority. As much as he hated it, finding and freeing his mother was just going to have to wait. He had heard that machine in the house start up, and he feared that one of the most dangerous ghosts had been let out. It bothered him that he didn't know who....

Whoever it was, he hoped that this spirit hadn't found and hurt either of his friends....

The night seemed to drag on as the clocks on the teenagers' phones hit ten o' clock. The house was eerily quiet, all around...except for the ticking of the machine, readying itself to let out the next ghost. The weather, outside, was rainy and windy. Probably not great for a glass house...but, at least, it wasn't storming.

Somewhere in the house, Dennis trudged in exhaustion. It was like Bobby and Jack couldn't keep still, and were always on the move...because the ex-psychic was having a hard time finding them! He didn't think the search would drag on, like this.

"....I'm starting to hate my new job...." he groaned, unhappily.


	4. Chapter IV: Happy Fun Times!

Upstairs, in the bedroom, Khaleen was lying on her back on the bed. She huffed as she lowered a book that she had been reading out of boredom. She had hit the third chapter, and the book was doing no good in curing her boredom. She couldn't sleep, for she was worried about Bobby and Jack.

She wondered if Bobby had found what was supposed to be their base room, for the time being. Had he heard the mechanism going off? And just where was he and Jack? Part of her couldn't believe that the glass maze had separated them all, that easily.

On a normal basis, Khaleen couldn't stand Jack. The way he practically shoved his skepticism in her's and Bobby's faces drove her nuts! In fact, everything about him drove her nuts! His attitudes, his handsome face...his gorgeous blue eyes...the way he always smirked at her-

Khaleen quickly sat up. _No, Khal!_ she thought as she slammed the book closed. _There is no way in hell you're crushing on that jerk! He bullied you in school! How could you even think about him, like that? Jack is stuck-up, and he's clearly proud of it. You don't need that sort of negativity in your life! But, he's grown to be so cute - no, Khal!_

The teenage girl needed to get her mind off of her high-school bully. She wanted to explore the house and look for the boys! However, Dennis was insistent when he told her to stay put, in the bedroom.

She pouted, feeling extremely bored. "Well, I'm not going to just sit here, and be bored for the rest of the night!" she declared, and hopped off the bed. She then tried the door...fortunately, it was unlocked. Dennis must not have thought of locking it, since he probably believed she would stay in the room, all night. With a smirk, Khaleen exited the bedroom, and made her way downstairs.

She traversed throughout the house, cautiously. There was no sign of Dennis, or Bobby, or Jack, yet.... She did spot The Hammer wandering about, a few times, but he was too far away to harm her. For now, she was safe from the angry spirit.

After what felt like hours, Khaleen yawned, tiredly, and stretched. She was bored of being this house, but she didn't want to leave without freeing Jean Kriticos, first. She definitely didn't want to leave without the boys, either. "Come on, you guys...where the hell are you?!" she whispered in annoyance. "I swear, if I find them, I am so strangling them for being lost and making me wander all over in a house full of ghosts." As she explored, she tried her very best to keep out of The Hammer's sight, everytime he was around. Although, it was difficult to hide when every wall was glass....

She skidaddled down a hall, her footsteps echoing...which wasn't very comforting to hear. Despite the one ghost being around, it was still eerily quiet in the house! Khaleen hated the creepy silence....

"It's official...." she said to herself. "I hate this place and everything about it." She cautiously peeked around a corner. _Nothing better come out and jump-scare me in the face.... Because I will scream._ She's watched gameplay of "Emily Wants to Play Too"...she told herself she'd never explore an empty building, all by herself. A lot of good that vow was doing, right about now.

She lightly brushed her fingers along the glass walls as she walked, keeping an eye and ear out for the boys and for any ghosts that could get released any minute, now.

She stopped walking as she nearly passed by a flight of stairs, leading down into what she believed to be a basement. Now, she has never been afraid of basements...or attics, for that matter. Not even when she was a little kid. However, this time could be an exception, considering this basement was probably filled with spirits...half of them being really dangerous and quite angry.

_Maybe Bobby or Jack is down there...._ she thought as she stared, nervously, down the stairs. _Most likely, Bobby. He knows this house better than Jack and I do. Maybe he's found his mom! Only one way to find out...._

She took a deep breath. And then, albeit still feeling like a fraidy-cat, she slowly descended down into the darkness.

Once down into the basement, she immediately felt chilled to the bone! The basement was freezing! But why? Was it because of all the spirits? She did read, somewhere, that ghosts could cause a drop in temperature, and sometime make a room feel like a freezer.... If it was one thing she never expected during this rescue-mission, it was that she would wind up a freezing basement. She shivered, and rubbed her arms as she turned around, and began walking past the stairs.

"I hate the cold...." she whispered, her breath shaky. She winced as she noticed how very dimly-lit the basement was. _Darkness, plus cold air, plus basement...equals nightmares!_ she thought with a mental fake grin. _I hope at least Bobby's down here...._

She felt her skin crawl as she passed by a few large glass cubes. She couldn't help it...the entire basement was creepy as hell!

She wandered around, a bit, before she let out a gasp of surprise and looked around...the house had suddenly revved up and the walls had begun to move! "Oh no, not again!" she whimpered, before turning on her heel and running back the way she came. 

Unfortunately, her path was blocked, now...so, she tried finding another way. But just like the rest of the house, the basement was like a maze! 

Her heart pounding against her chest, she finally stopped running and pressed her back up against a wall, ignoring the strange Latin writing on it. "Fuck!" she exclaimed in a whisper. Every path was currently blocked, and she didn't know for long.... She had a horrible feeling she was going to be stuck, down here, for a while.

She rested against the glass, waiting for her energy to come back to her. No thanks to how chilly the basement was, the glass felt cold against her back.

As she took a few minutes, a warped and echoey voice sounded. "Who are you....?" it asked, slowly, and curiously...with some anger mixed into it. The voice was male, and it caused Khaleen to freeze in caution. 

She looked around, waiting to hear the voice, again. It did, but in very warped muttering. She couldn't make out what it was saying, this time.... She didn't see anybody, however. She had a funny feeling that she was hearing a ghost, but he was playing invisible. Where, exactly, was he? 

Unfortunately, just hearing the voice frightened her. She had another funny feeling that this ghost was probably not friendly.... She shivered, again, against the cold air...and regretted not bringing a jacket with her. 

"Who...." she whispered, trying to be brave but failing. "Who's there?" _And where, and why?_ she mentally finished.

She did not like the warped wailing that responded to her...a wailing of different voices that didn't sound like the ghost's. They were shouting someone's name, probably the spirit's. 

She blinked, and her eyes widened when a swinging bat came right at her head! _Shit!_ she exclaimed in her head as she dodged, just in time...the bat ending up hitting the wall, instead, and creating flying sparks! The teen girl banged her back against another wall, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared, in fear, at a ghost who's almost entire right side was torn and bloodied. 

The ghost dressed like he had been in the late fifties, early sixties: denim jeans that were rolled at the ankles, black shoes, a white (now ripped and covered in blood) shirt, and a letterman jacket with a large 'C' on the front and the name Johnny patched onto the left sleeve.

Khaleen almost let out a frightened yelp when the very-clearly angry spirit turned his head to frown at her...before taking another speedy swing! She ducked out of the way and underneath his elbow to avoid getting herself clobbered. _Ok, who is this guy, and why the hell is he so angry at me?!_ she thought, and pressed her back against yet another wall. _Also, he's dangerous! Just like I predicted! Why am I not surprised!_

The spirit glared at her, and prepared another attack. Without thinking, the teen girl grabbed the bat, and looked up at the angry ghost in terror. She had meant to try and defend herself, regardless if it meant getting her arm broken...but she had not meant to touch anything! It was then that she noticed how tall he was compared to her. Let's just say, she felt like a shrimp, now. A very scared and defenseless shrimp....

She also took notice of the ghost's features. His skin was pale in the dim-lighting. He had dark hair that was styled in a way that strongly reminded her of the greaser boys in the movie, "Grease"...and gorgeous blue eyes. However, those eyes were slightly sunken in, due to him being a ghost, and he had bruise-like marks underneath them. Replacing the right side of his hair was a revealing brain. Despite all the blood and shredded skin, Khaleen thought he looked very handsome...and somewhat like a college student. 

Speaking of the torn spirit, he was giving her a very unhappy frown...he did not like that she was touching his weapon! Angrily, he yanked it out of her grasp, and took another swing at her...but missed and hit the wall when she moved out of the way, again. 

"Fuck! Cut it out, would ya?!" she yelled at him in great annoyance. "What're you trying to do, kill me?!" She immediately pursed her lips, irritated with herself. _Stupid._ she scolded herself as the ghost gave her an amused and evil smirk in response to her idiotic question. _I need to shut up...._

"I've already had it up to _here_ with this house's bullshit, so if you could just stop trying to murder me, that would be swell!" she told him, completely ignoring her inner smarter self. 

The spirit gave her an odd look and tilted his head, curiously. But he still had that evil smirk on his face, something that told Khaleen that this dodge-and-survive was not going to end well for her. He glanced her up-and-down, looking like he was trying to figure her out.

Khaleen wracked her brain as she tried to remember which ghost he was in the Arcanum. _Now that I have a quick minute...._ she thought, and made the mistake of shutting her eyes to think.

**_WHACK!!!_**

The teen girl collapsed to the ground in a daze. He had taken his chance to swing at her, and she had been foolish enough to be stupid, right in front of him.... She blacked out, feeling her blood run cold like crazy. Images flashed through her unconscious mind of a familiar page, talking about a certain ghost who's appearance description matched the ghost who had just bruised her the side of her head. 

After several seconds, she came to. She groaned in pain.... Her body felt bruised from slamming herself into the walls, just to avoid getting herself killed. She opened her eyes, and weakly lifted her head...she watched, unfazed, as blood from her new wound dripped onto the floor. 

_Great._ she thought, sarcastically. _Dennis and Bobby are just going to love this. Mostly Dennis...._

It was at that moment when she realized just who she was up against, right now. The images that she saw in her head made sense.... 

Trying to ignore the blood leaving trails on her face, she looked up. For some reason, she felt calm and less terrified than she had been only a minute ago. The spirit was towering over her, looking down at her as if he was waiting to see what she would do. He no longer looked quite as angry as he had been, before. Although, his eyes still held hatred for her...and she could only guess that was because he was jealous of her for being alive. 

"Ah." she told him, and weakly shifted to rest on her side. "I know who you are, now.... Through tear-stained eyes and and stars.... I see." She gave him a weak smile, which made him tilt his head at her in curiosity. "You're the Torn Prince. My name's Khaleen...but, you can just call me 'Khal'. Everyone else does. Or...whatever...." She winced as her body ached. Her bruised head wasn't doing much better. 

The Torn Prince smirked, and rolled his eyes at her strange attitude. What happened to the terrified little girl he had just battered? He gripped his bat in preparation as he eyed her slowly getting to her feet, watching her use the glass wall for support. He didn't trust her by a long shot...but, he had to admit, she was cute, and he had this feeling that she was on the good-guy side. 

"I, uh...don't suppose you've seen a couple of boys around here?" she asked him, trying to make conversation like she had with The Hammer. "Taller than me...older, too.... College students?" 

The Torn Prince didn't answer. Instead, he stared at her as if he was studying her, again. She took that as a no. This awkward conversation was going nowhere.

"Alright, then...." she said. "Welp, if you don't mind...I'm going to go find my friends. Been looking for them, all night." She pushed herself away from the wall. "Nice meeting you, Princey!"

She didn't even get a chance to take a step forward, before the spirit's bat whacked her, hard, in her stomach! She cried out and immediately doubled over while clutching her bruising stomach...she had felt a sharp pain the second that bat had struck, and that was more worrying than the bruise. She saw stars, and tears threatened to brim her eyes as she felt that sharp pain everytime she breathed.

The Torn Prince seemed proud of his work, smirking as he tapped his bat against his palm. He didn't understand why she had given him her name...it wasn't as if she was all that important to him. 

However, he figured he might as well do the same. It was possible he was going to be seeing her around, after this encounter. 

She was still doubled over and wincing in pain when he gripped her shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading for him to have mercy on her. Through her shirt, she could feel how cold his hand was!

"The name's Royce." he told her, his voice much clearer than how she heard it, before. And his tone didn't sound angry or annoyed. He sounded oddly...civil, despite her current situation. And, his voice sounded nice to her...almost calming. Before he could give her a chance to say anything, he gave her another whack with his bat. This time, on the back of her head...and this time, he made sure the blow wasn't enough to put her in a coma. He watched with a proud smile as she fell to the floor with a thud, her body still as stone.

"Nighty-night, doll." he drawled. He sat down on his overturned car, and watched her as she slipped further into unconsciousness. 

Meanwhile, Dennis was wandering around in boredom. He had found one of Khaleen's friends...but unfortunately, no thanks to the maze of glass, he was too far away to get to him. The ex-psychic could only hope that the boy stayed safe until he could get there. 

Dennis had a horrible and annoying feeling that Khaleen was not going to stay in that bedroom for very long. He hoped that she would...but he remembered what Jean had said about the kid: she was stubborn.

"She better stay in that bedroom, that's all I know." he grumbled. "At least, until I can get her friends back with her. Damn kids.... Why does this have to be _my_ job?" He cringed. He was sounding like a grumpy old man with all the complaining that he was doing.

Just then, he stopped walking...and watched as a familiar bloodied and torn spirit walked by, a smirk on his face. _Great._ Dennis thought, unhappily. _Now, that guy's out and about. Who's next, The Jackal?_ He shook his head, scolding himself. Saying something like that just might make it come true. The last thing he needed was for any of the other most dangerous ghosts to be released.

With that problem in mind, he hurried to find Khaleen's friends. If only they would just stay in one place, for once! 

Quite some time later, Khaleen came to. She groaned in pain as her eyes fluttered open. She slowly moved her head to look around. The Torn Prince was nowhere to be seen.... Luckily, all of her memories leading up to now flooded into her. But it gave her a headache, and she felt like she hadn't slept long enough. 

She shivered...the air in the basement was still frigid. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible! 

Slowly and carefully, she got to her feet. But then, she gasped in pain and clutched at her abdomen. Looking down, she lifted her shirt and revealed her stomach...and winced. The Torn Prince had left a large, nasty-looking bruise on her stomach, right where her left ribs were! Thankfully, though, her ribs didn't feel like they were broken. She made a mental note to herself to try and get back at the spirit for nearly landing her in the hospital.

With a small whimper of pain, the teen girl trudged through an opening in the glass. She stopped, and raised an eyebrow at a familiar-looking symbol on the glass. It was the Torn Prince's. "Ah!" she said to nobody in particular, casually. "No wonder he wanted to murder me." She had been in his cube...now, the attacks made sense. 

With a short nod, she began wandering around in the basement. "Oh, thank good gravy boats of...Valhalla!" she exclaimed in relief. Up ahead of her, the stairs leading back upstairs wasn't blocked. Ignoring the pain in her abdomen, she jogged up the stairs in a hurry. "No more death for me! Please, and thank you!" Once upstairs, she immediately noticed that it was still dark, outside. Just how long was she KO-ed?

With a shake of her head, Khaleen turned the corner and began her search for her friends, again. No doubt they were still wondering where she was and if she was still alive. Knowing Bobby, she knew he would be extremely worried, by now.

After trudging through the house in total boredom, the teen girl suddenly realized something: the special glasses that Bobby had given her remained untouched and still hooked onto her shirt. With a frown, Khaleen stopped walking and put her hands on her hips, thinking back. She remembered she hadn't been wearing the glasses when she met The Hammer...and the same thing went for when she met Dennis and The Torn Prince! 

"....So, I'm able to see these spirits without these damn things?!" she exclaimed, not caring if nobody could hear her, and grabbing the glasses. "Da fuck?!" She also remembered how she had been able to touch The Torn Prince's bat...when it was probably supposed to be as ghostly as he was. "I an also touch them, as well?!" At this moment, she felt very confused. 

She slapped herself out of her craze. "Ok, Khal, calm down." she told herself. "So what if you can see and touch spirits? It's just a...gift...that you have. Nothin' to be worried about!" She frowned, again. "Oh, who am I, Melinda Gordan?" She rolled her eyes, and sighed. "You know what, it's fine. It's totally fine. It's not even all that important, right now. I'm trapped in this hell-hole with a bunch of angry ghosts, and I've yet to find the boys. Finding the boys is most important, right now!" 

And with that, she continued on her way. 

Unbeknownst to her, a greaser boy stepped out from behind a wall, a very amused smirk on his face. He watched as his now-frustrated and bruised victim wandered the glass halls in search for her friends...whoever they were.

Gripping his weapon, he followed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic is now, officially, on hiatus. I will be job-training at campus from here on out, and I have no idea when I will be able to update this story, again. Hopefully, I'll have some free time during my stay at the campus. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Leave a kudos or a nice comment, in the meantime...please! Later! ^_^


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